


A Kunoichi Romance Begins Like This

by Erisabesu (ErisabesuFic)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22501417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErisabesuFic/pseuds/Erisabesu
Summary: “Sakura pretends there aren’t hummingbirds behind her sternum and walks over to say hello; it would be rude to ignore him, and she should set a good example of proper social etiquette. Nothing at all to be nervous about.”  [2009.04.12]
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Sai, Haruno Sakura/Sai
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	A Kunoichi Romance Begins Like This

**“A Kunoichi Romance Begins Like This”**

♦

Sakura balances her armload of books on one hip so she can open the library door.

The librarian on duty sees her come in, and gives a friendly wave from the counter, and Sakura smiles, plunking down a stack of five medical texts (hers) and three imported fashion magazines from the more liberal regions of Tea Country (the Hokage’s).

“Your friend is already here, by the way.” The librarian pulls the stack to her side of the check-in desk and begins to process them.

“Hmm?” Sakura blinks, focusing her innocent eyes on Mizuko-san and resisting the urge to glance at the research tables and check for the person she’d been hoping to see.

“Don’t be coy, now.” The woman tucks her chin and eyes Sakura over the frames of her glasses. She smirks. “This is the third time this week that you’ve been by for some heavy reading.”

Sakura laughs, inclining her head. “Tsunade-shisho keeps me pretty busy, you know, so it’s natural that I’d be visiting you so often, Mizuko-san.”

“ _Right_ ,” Mizuko winks. “Well don’t let me keep you from the Hokage’s important errands…”

Sakura smiles and waves good-naturedly before turning around, trying to appear casual on her way through the big open tables in the front of the library. Mizuko was right—Sai _is_ there, in the middle row near the stacks, bent over a pile of books and wearing his high necked jacket, the very picture of a hardworking student.

Sakura pretends there aren’t hummingbirds behind her sternum and walks over to say hello; it would be rude to ignore him, and she should set a good example of proper social etiquette. Nothing at all to be nervous about.

Sai looks up when she comes near. “Hello, Sakura-san.”

“Hello.” She smiles as she eyes the varied shapes of the books surrounding him, snooping at titles in search of a way to start a conversation.

Sai smiles back. “You sure seem to come here a lot, Sakura-san.”

“Ah, er… really?” Sakura flushes, waving a hand and looking away. “Must be a coincidence! You’re here a lot too, Sai. What have you got there?”

She nods at the large book spread open in front of him, and he shifts it towards her so she can see.

“I’m brushing up on my knowledge of female anatomy.”

“Oh.”

Sakura flushes a second time, startling the hummingbirds in her chest. The book is a typical anatomical text, nothing scandalous about bones and muscles, but… She can’t quite keep her mind entirely pure, watching his strong hand flip the transparencies with such a gentle touch.

“Women’s bodies are truly amazing.” Sai looks up at her. “I’ve been reading up on certain things, and for something so important, and so obvious, and so beneficial to exist—well, I find it hard to believe that so many men can’t seem to locate it.”

“Locate what?” She bends closer, interested.

Sai taps his finger on the book page to show her. “The clitoris.”

She slaps her hand across Sai’s mouth before he can say another word.

“ _Sai!_ ” She hisses, embarrassed to the core. “What are you thinking? This is a _library_! It’s against the rules to say that kind of thing in public!”

She checks over both shoulders to be sure nobody noticed, while Sai blinks at her overtop her shushing fingers. Sai lifts one hand to cover hers where it blocks his mouth, and Sakura squeezes a brief warning before releasing him, totally exasperated.

Sai smiles, eyes curved into happy crescents. “You are right. I will remember that next time.”

“You better!” Sakura takes a deep breath, and then sits in the chair next to him; she often forgets that he can be worse than Naruto at times.

Nonplussed, Sai passes her another book, opening it to a marked section. “I also think that the women in our village are sometimes taken for granted.”

Sakura peers closer, reading the section title and feeling her stomach flip. “This… this is a biography of Tsunade-shishou!”

“She is truly a woman to be respected and admired,” Sai nods.

Tsunade’s bio is but one of many; Sakura turns the book over to read the spine: _“Distinguished Women of the Shinobi World.”_ She holds her breath and looks up, struck by the warmth and caring in his dark eyes… and the hummingbirds start up their fluttering wings once more.

“Sai…” she mumbles, feeling warmth tingle through her limbs.

Sai smiles, his voice serious. “Hokage-sama may have no children, and she drinks Sake like a man. But what she’s given to Konoha and to the study of medicine is far more incredible.”

Sakura hands the book back to Sai, feeling proud to be Tsunade’s student even though it’s true she may have a bit of a drinking problem. “You’ve really been thinking about this, haven’t you?”

“Yes I have,” he drops his gaze, closing the book and putting it to the side. “And…” he hesitates, scratching his cheek.

“Go on,” Sakura smiles, resting her hands on her knees and leaning forward, wanting to know what’s on his mind.

“And I’ve also been thinking about _you_ , Sakura-san.” Sai meets her eyes unflinching.

Sakura swallows, her throat now dry from the hummingbird hurricane currently storming about her ribcage.

“Oh?” she manages, already picturing how nice they will look walking together on dates, her dainty hand resting on his arm, the envy of Ino and the entire village.

Sai smiles back at her, touching a hand to the back of hers where it rests on her knee. “I’ve been thinking how much trouble your mother must have had giving birth to a daughter with such a large forehead.”

Sakura’s first reaction is veins popping one by one across her temples. Then Inner-Sakura takes over by yanking Sai to his feet with both fists on his collar and shaking him within an inch of his life, his chair crashing to the floor.

_“DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!”_ She squawks in her fury, itching to throttle him worse than she’s ever throttled Naruto in his entire life.

“Sakura, wait—” Sai gasps, hands clasping her wrists.

Enraged, Sakura slams him back down on his feet and lets go, snorting in complete indignation.

But Sai continues to hold onto her wrists, his grip gentle but firm. “You didn’t let me finish.”

Sakura gives him the stink-eye, not caring to hear him say another word for as long as they live, and gets out her black gloves.

“How should I put this?” Sai glances at the floor, then he shrugs and does the one thing she least expects:

He bends forward and kisses the angered wrinkles on her brow.

“I like this part of you the best, Sakura,” he whispers before withdrawing out of range of her fists. “And not just because you’re smart.”

Sakura can only stand there, gaping, caught between the urge to throw her arms around his neck and the urge to break every bone in his body.

Sai smiles and gives her a small bow, then sets his chair to rights and exits the library—rather quickly—leaving her in a daze.

The hummingbirds in her heart morph irrevocably into a herd of stampeding ostriches and she sinks back into her chair, feeling giddy and faint.

Thirty minutes later, when Sakura thinks she can trust her legs to hold her upright again, she stumbles back the way she came, at a loss of what to do when she and Sai next meet because–was that possibly a _love confession_?

She sways, nearly tripping over her own feet, when Mizuko-san brings her back to full consciousness by smirking from the check out counter and beckoning with a crook of her finger. Sakura blushes, backing away and into the wall to sidle around to the front doors, well aware of the scene she and Sai must have made and completely _mortified_ by nearly every aspect.

Mizuko-san chuckles, watching overtop her glasses. “By the way, Sakura, just a reminder—kissing in the library is against the rules.”

Sakura gasps, frozen, and then dashes out of the library in a burst of speed, cheeks unbearably red.

The librarian’s teasing reprimand follows on her heels: “And no running!”

—

Ω

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :D Find me on twitter: @erisabesu3


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